1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an amphibious aquaculture feeding machine for carrying and efficiently distributing aquaculture feedstuff in large aquaculture ponds. More particularly it relates to an amphibious vehicle having a large feed storage hopper and centrifugal distribution system capable of traveling on land and on water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Aquaculture is generally defined as the raising of marine life in man made ponds or enclosures. It is a growing and rapidly developing industry world wide. Aquaculture is conducted in both fresh water and salt water environments. It can be generally divided into two sections, having two different focuses. The first is the fish or crustacean hatchery where eggs are accumulated, hatched and the developing fry or larvae are later released into an uncontrolled environment. Examples would include salmon and sport trout hatcheries. The second is the aquaculture for commercial production, such as trout, catfish and shrimp.
In the case of fresh water aquaculture the quantities of water are often limited and as a result the ponds or raceways are small enough that feed distribution can be adequately accomplished by use of a land based apparatus. EVANS, U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,520 discloses such a device.
In the case of salt water aquaculture, or fresh water cat fish and Tilapia ponds, the situation is much different. In particular, in the case of warm water aquaculture for raising shrimp and the like, it is desireable to have large ponds ranging in size from a few acres to over one hundred acres in surface area. These ponds are man made, by enclosing with earthen dikes, large sections of shallow water along a shoreline. These type of salt water ponds can be found around the world, including locations such as the gulf coast of Texas, South America, the Philippine Islands, Southeast Asia, China and Japan.
The feed distribution systems currently in use today are the same as for the smaller fresh water ponds and primarily consist of land based feedstuff blowers and the like which are used to blow feedstuff as far out onto the pond as possible. These feed distribution systems are not suitable or efficient for use with large salt water ponds. Using land based systems, the feed is concentrated near the edges of the pond resulting in the uneven distribution of food wherein little feed reaches the central areas of the pond, and a disproportionately high portion is concentrated near the edges. In such cases the feed is poorly utilized by the animals. This results in cost increases because of wasted feed and declines in production in both the rate of poundage gain and in the total poundage capacity of the pond.
Aquaculture feedstuffs are man made feeds made primarily from small grains and other vegetable matter having suitable protein and other food value content. And, are usually formed into small, fragile, pellets by the use of some binding agent such as molasses. It is pelletized so that it is in a form identifiable by the marine life as food which can be grasped or struck at. But it must also be fragile so that it can be broken apart and ingested. These physical limitations for the feedstuff also create problems for the person attempting to distribute it. The fragile pellets cannot withstand the centrifugal or ballistic forces needed to throw it long distances into the central regions of the pond from a land based unit. Accordingly, what is needed is an apparatus which allows the delivery of the feed to the central areas of the pond. This cannot be accomplished by hand in the case of large ponds because of the amount of feed involved. For example, in a forty-acre shrimp pond, the shrimp are fed every twelve hours and the amount of feed required for each feeding may equal up to 1,000 pounds.
Accordingly, what is needed is an amphibious vehicle capable of carrying large quantities of feed from a remote storage location on land, across the land and poor roads, and into the water for uniform distribution across the surface area of the pond.